Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Life is a journey, may you have peace within on your travels
Mary E. Robbins

The Dalai Lama

At a fundamental level, as human beings, we are all the same; each one of us aspires to happiness and each one of us does not wish to suffer. This is why, whenever I have the opportunity, I try to draw people's attention to what as members of the human family we have in common and the deeply interconnected nature of our existence and welfare.

Today, there is increasing recognition, as well as a growing body of scientific evidence, that confirms the close connection between our own states of mind and our happiness. On the one hand, many of us live in societies that are very developed materially, yet among us are many people who are not very happy. Just underneath the beautiful surface of affluence there is a kind of mental unrest, leading to frustration, unnecessary quarrels, reliance on drugs or alcohol, and in the worst case, suicide. There is no guarantee that wealth alone can give you the joy or fulfilment that you seek. The same can be said of your friends too. When you are in an intense state of anger or hatred, even a very close friend appears to you as somehow frosty, or cold, distant, and annoying.

However, as human beings we are gifted with this wonderful human intelligence. Besides that, all human beings have the capacity to be very determined and to direct that strong sense of determination in whatever direction they like. So long as we remember that we have this marvellous gift of human intelligence and a capacity to develop determination and use it in positive ways, we will preserve our underlying mental health. Realizing we have this great human potential gives us a fundamental strength. This recognition can act as a mechanism that enables us to deal with any difficulty, no matter what situation we are facing, without losing hope or sinking into feelings of low self-esteem.

I write this as someone who lost his freedom at the age of 16, then lost his country at the age of 24. Consequently, I have lived in exile for more than 50 years during which we Tibetans have dedicated ourselves to keeping the Tibetan identity alive and preserving our culture and values. On most days the news from Tibet is heartbreaking, and yet none of these challenges gives grounds for giving up. One of the approaches that I personally find useful is to cultivate the thought: If the situation or problem is such that it can be remedied, then there is no need to worry about it. In other words, if there is a solution or a way out of the difficulty, you do not need to be overwhelmed by it. The appropriate action is to seek its solution. Then it is clearly more sensible to spend your energy focussing on the solution rather than worrying about the problem. Alternatively, if there is no solution, no possibility of resolution, then there is also no point in being worried about it, because you cannot do anything about it anyway. In that case, the sooner you accept this fact, the easier it will be for you. This formula, of course, implies directly confronting the problem and taking a realistic view. Otherwise you will be unable to find out whether or not there is a resolution to the problem

Taking a realistic view and cultivating a proper motivation can also shield you against feelings of fear and anxiety. If you develop a pure and sincere motivation, if you are motivated by a wish to help on the basis of kindness, compassion, and respect, then you can carry on any kind of work, in any field, and function more effectively with less fear or worry, not being afraid of what others think or whether you ultimately will be successful in reaching your goal. Even if you fail to achieve your goal, you can feel good about having made the effort. But with a bad motivation, people can praise you or you can achieve goals, but you still will not be happy.

Again, we may sometimes feel that our whole lives are unsatisfactory, we feel on the point of being overwhelmed by the difficulties that confront us. This happens to us all in varying degrees from time to time. When this occurs, it is vital that we make every effort to find a way of lifting our spirits. We can do this by recollecting our good fortune. We may, for example, be loved by someone; we may have certain talents; we may have received a good education; we may have our basic needs provided for - food to eat, clothes to wear, somewhere to live - we may have performed certain altruistic deeds in the past. We must take into consideration even the slightest positive aspect of our lives. For if we fail to find some way of uplifting ourselves, there is every danger of sinking further into our sense of powerlessness. This can lead us to believe that we have no capacity for doing good whatsoever. Thus we create the conditions of despair itself.

As a Buddhist monk I have learned that what principally upsets our inner peace is what we call disturbing emotions. All those thoughts, emotions, and mental events which reflect a negative or uncompassionate state of mind inevitably undermine our experience of inner peace. All our negative thoughts and emotions - such as hatred, anger, pride, lust, greed, envy, and so on - are considered to be sources of difficulty, to be disturbing. Negative thoughts and emotions are what obstruct our most basic aspiration - to be happy and to avoid suffering. When we act under their influence, we become oblivious to the impact our actions have on others: they are thus the cause of our destructive behaviour both toward others and to ourselves. Murder, scandal, and deceit all have their origin in disturbing emotions.

This inevitably gives rise to the question - can we train the mind? There are many methods by which to do this. Among these, in the Buddhist tradition, is a special instruction called mind training, which focuses on cultivating concern for others and turning adversity to advantage. It is this pattern of thought, transforming problems into happiness that has enabled the Tibetan people to maintain their dignity and spirit in the face of great difficulties. Indeed I have found this advice of great practical benefit in my own life.

A great Tibetan teacher of mind training once remarked that one of the mind’s most marvellous qualities is that it can be transformed. I have no doubt that those who attempt to transform their minds, overcome their disturbing emotions and achieve a sense of inner peace, will, over a period of time, notice a change in their mental attitudes and responses to people and events. Their minds will become more disciplined and positive. And I am sure they will find their own sense of happiness grow as they contribute to the greater happiness of others. I offer my prayers that everyone who makes this their goal will be blessed with success.

About Me

Menu

Yes the website is still there... however I do not have any puppies... my dogs are all retired... living their lives ... hanging out with their dog pals... there is some good info there... some poetry... pom pics... and other stuff... I have not brought myself to go in there to edit and update since my husband died... it is what it is...

Criteo Auto Blog Roll

Dragon"s Fog... A Short Story

This morning there is a fog… the kind of fog that dragons relish… thick warm moist fog… not the bone chilling stuff of a winter’s morn… but the caressing fog of the wee hours of a summer’s dawn… moisture dripping ever so slowly from the trees… soaking into every crack and crevice the sun and wind have left behind… nourishing moisture for the life of the trees and dragon folk…

Not the pelting driving rain of flash floods… not so long past… rains that do as much damage as good… but the gentle caress of a warm fog… shutting out the outside world… wrapping all in its shroud of wet gray freedom…

You can hear them you know… rumbling as they dash about and play in the freedom of the gray… a rumbling roar that echoes through the hills… feel them as the ground vibrates from their antics… no fires today… only play…

There are stories of olde… of dragons at play… dancing and leaping into the sky… red… purple… and yellow of eye… colures shifting as they blink… blink away… into the nether regions of Ire…

Stories of their wing-spans filling the sky… great hordes of dragons in flight… moving the air below from their wings might…

There are fewer now… or so seem to be… never seen one in flight… I’ve heard tell in the minstrels’ delight… seen such woven in the Tapestry’s tale hung in the even glow light…

Now they come only in the fog… happy sounds in the warm summer morn… screeching in pain… in the cold fog of north winters morn…

Its summer now… so a warm fog blesses the hills with the dragons dance… I’m drawn to their sounds as a moth to the flame…

The elders huddle in fear as they hear their morning games… I wonder if their fear is to keep us contained… huddled in houses… free only in name…

I hear the dragons call… almost my name… just over the ridge… am I food … foe… or friend… soon to be seen…

I can see their eyes… they glow in the fog… the edge of a wing… in colures extreme… deep purple… shading to green… reds so brilliant they are hard to behold… golden gleaming… and silver so pure… blues so deep as to be dreaming…

There are others among them… others like me… with the dream to be free… like me but changed… their garb bright and gleaming… unlike the drab colors of the elder folk…

They’re mounting the dragons… as if to ride the skies… many are rider-less… stirring about… a bright golden beast… with eyes shimmering like diamonds in the sun... moving my way…

It seems I’ve been chosen… to ride or be dined upon… which would it be… face my fear …it’s clutching at my heart… the drive to be free overpowering it’s binding grasp… I step forward… towards my chosen fate…

The huge golden beast dips it’s head first to one side then the other… standing still now I am… watching in fascination its graceful approach… moves so lightly for a beast so large… golden scales like feathers ruffling with each move...

Frozen in place now I am… tis fear or fascination …which I am not sure… watching the golden dragon’s dance… her great neck swaying and dipping… bright eyes swirling with colours… wings close… then spread wide… low then raised high… how graceful the steps of this dance…

Am I food … foe… or friend… tis soon to be seen… I can feel her breath on my face… her great eyes so bright… the swirling colours slowing to a deep solid purple… focused on me… still … looking… seeming to judge… am I found to be lacking and as such … merely food… or worthy of life… and as such friend… welcome to fly upon this great beasts back… to blink to Ire and never look back…

Standing still am I…face to face … eye to eye… with this great beast so golden… time seems to stop… in a moment frozen…

A choice is made… a move so quickly as to appear invisible… I am lifted high… yet to know food or friend… but sure in my risk… freedom in the dragons’ dance is truly to be blessed… either way I’m free not bound by elders’ quest...

My seat it seems … tis at the base of this great beast’s neck… as she deposits me… hence the grasp of her razor edged jaws with nary scratch… seems I’m friend rather than food… bonded now with this golden beast…

The warm morning fog is lifting… Skyward we rise… as one in the air… wings rustling as music… so swift is our rise… blinked into Ire…